Today, let us dive into a short sharing session where we expound on the seemingly unjust – sky high food prices. We are all in this fight together!
One of the main reasons of the exponential food prices is because Singapore lacks natural resources such as arable land, water supply etc. Over reliance on foreign imports also put us at a vulnerable position in which we have no choice but to be price takers. Did you know that over 90% of the food we ingest are imported? As such, the price of food are very volatile and ever more so in today’s context, where there are so many global shocks (COVID-19, Russia-Ukraine War, etc) happening.
Speaking of which, Russia and Ukraine are both major exporters of grains and edible oils. When these countries decreased their exports due to reasons such as sanctions and keeping some commodities for domestic use, the global supply is severely reduced, leading to a global shortage of these commodities. Accompanied with the increasing gas and fuel prices, the price of food has now reached a new high. We, as the end consumers are to take the brunt of this non-consensual force which takes the form of price increase.
However, we are not the only ones at the mercy of price hike. Producers are faced with an ever challenging fight to mitigate their losses as well. Andrew Ward, a farmer who runs a 1,600-acre arable farm in Lincolnshire, growing wheat, barley and rapeseed says: “I’ve never known farming to be so volatile and so stressful”. His energy bills have doubled, fertiliser costs have increase by a whooping 400%. As he decrease the use of fertilisers, the result will be a lower crop yield during harvesting which leads to shortage. Andrew is only one of the many farmers facing this issue.
This is not all, there will be many challenges ahead on shortage of food supplies such as labour shortage and decrease in food variety and quality. Late last year, thousands of East Yorkshire pigs were burnt and culled due to shortage of butcher to process the meats of these pigs. Can you imagine how sad it is where farmers rear these pigs only to see them get wasted? These labour shortages were due to the pandemic and the outcome of Brexit. Labour shortage issues is expected to be seen in the food industry for a long time.
While there are shortages around the world, we should also not forget that the world’s population is increasing, and we have more mouths to feed.
You may have seen some drastic increase in food prices across supermarkets, restaurants, and many F&B establishments. It is inevitable and there are many who are face with challenges way more extreme than us. Let us appreciate food a little more, consume only what we need and consume smartly to save costs. We hope Deli Thoughts have added some additional knowledge to you!
References:
https://www-bbc-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61958468.amp?mc_cid=46c3d9a6a3&mc_eid=8b8d4c73dc
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-humber-59668823
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/prices-of-food-electricity-and-gas-to-continue-rising-in-singapore-mas